HELPS TOWARD 


AMERICAN 


CITIZENSHIP 













HELPS TOWARD 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP 


BY 

CHARLES ELLIOTT PICKETT 

M 


NEW HAVEN 

The Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Co. 


1919 


T\\ 

PS 


Copyright iqiq 
By C. E. Pickett 



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Helps toward American Citizenship 

This little pamphlet is an attempt to state a few facts con¬ 
cerning the origin and development of the United States as 
a nation. I have sought to give to those seeking citizenship 
at least an outline for their information, in the hope that it 
may stimulate to further study in order to prepare themselves 
the better to assume the responsibilities and rights, and per¬ 
form the duties of citizenship. 

Charles Elliott Pickett, 

Clerk United States District Court. 


New Haven, Conn., 

20th January 1919. 


To 

H. M. C. W. 


FEB -7 1919 






Beginnings of the United States as a Nation. 

Before 1776, England settled or acquired thirteen separate 
colonies on the continent of North America. Under King 
George III, a constitutional monarch, these colonies were 
governed by England. Fourth July 1776, these thirteen Amer¬ 
ican Colonies asserted their common purpose to maintain 
that they were free, independent and sovereign. This is 
what is known as the “Declaration of Independence.” Eng¬ 
land did not recognize the Independence of the Colonies 
until 3rd September 1783, when a treaty of peace was signed. 

The Constitution of the United States was proposed on 
the 17th September 1787, but was not effective until ratified 
by nine States the 21st June 1788, when it became, as it now 
is, the foundation or the basic law of the country. 

The acceptance of the Constitution in 1789 made the 
American people a nation, and thus began the United States, 
a free government “of the people, for the people, and by 
the people.” 

There are four kinds of American laws; 

1. The Federal Constitution. 

2. Federal Statutes. 

3. State Constitution. 

4. State Statutes. 

The Constitution of the United States provides for the 
regulation of those matters which relate to the whole nation. 
Some of those matters are the following: 

War and peace,—treaties and matters relating to foreign 
countries. 

Army and Navy* 

Federal Courts, 

Commerce, between different states and foreign countries. 

Coining money," 

Patents and Copyright, 

The Post Office, 

Taxation for support of government, &c. 

Protection of citizens against unjust or discriminating 
legislation by a state. 


6 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


Congress, at Washington, makes laws for the nation. 

The State Legislatures, which meet at the Capitols in the 
various States, make the laws for the States. 

The laws and ordinances governing the cities are made by 
the Aldermen or Councilmen who meet in the City Hall in 
the various cities. 

The President of the United States lives at Washington, 
and is elected by the people for the term of four years. 

To become president of the United States one must have 
been a natural born citizen and must be at least thirty-five 
years of age and fourteen years a resident of the United 
States. 

Who is President now? 

The chief executive of the State presides at the capital city 
of the State, and is called Governor.' In Connecticut, he is 
elected by the people for the term of two years. 

Who is Governor of this State? 

The chief executive of the city is called Mayor, and is 
chosen by vote of the people. 

The executive officers of the town are the Selectmen. 

Name the Selectmen of your town? 

The government of the United States is divided by the 
Constitution into three departments: 

Legislative—(the Congress,) which makes the laws. 

Executive—(the President,) which executes the laws or 
carries them into effect. 

Judicial—(the Courts,) which administers justice or ex¬ 
plains the laws between man and man. 

Some of the powers and duties of the President as head of 
the Executive department are; 

Command of Federal Army and NaVy, 

Power to make treaties, but with the advice and consent 
of the Senators, 

To appoint Ambassadors and Consuls, Justices of the 
Supreme Court, Judges of the District Courts; 

To grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the 
United States; 


UNITED STATES AS A NATION. 


7 


Duty to inform Congress of the state of the Union and 
to recommend measures to Congress; 

To commission all officers of the United States; 

To receive Ambassadors; 

To take care that the laws are faithfully executed. 

The President appoints Secretaries, Ministers or Cabinet 
Advisers who preside over the following named departments: 

Department of State, 

Department of the Treasury, 

Department of War, 

Department of Justice, 

Post Office Department, ' * 

Navy Department, 

Department of the Interior, 

Department of Agriculture, 

Department of Commerce, 

Department of Labor. 

The National Legislature of the United States is called 
Congress. Some of the powers of Congress: To declare war 
and levy taxes to carry it on; it may declare who are citizens; 
how much gold shall go to a dollar, and how many pounds 
of wheat to a bushel, etc. 

Congress consists of two bodies: (i) The Senate; (2) 
The House of Representatives. 

The Senate represents the States and consists of two per¬ 
sons, called Senators, from each State, who must be inhab¬ 
itants of that State, and at least thirty years of age, and at 
least nine years a citizen of the United States. Senators are 
elected by direct vote of the people for six years. As there 
are now forty-eight States, the number of Senators is 
ninety-six. 

Name the Senators from this State? 

The Vice President of the United States is President of 
the Senate, but without a vote, unless the numbers are equally 
divided. 

The House of Representatives represents the State accord¬ 
ing to population. 


8 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


Representatives, called Congressmen, are elected by the 
votes of the people to serve for two years. The election 
always takes place in the even years: 1918, 1920, &c. 

No one can be a Congressman who has not attained to the 
age of 25 years, and been seven years a citizen of the United 
States. 

Name the Congressman from your district? 

The capital city of the United States is Washington, in the 
District of Columbia. 

The names of the forty-eight States and capital of each 
are as follows: 


State 


Capital 


New 

England 

States 


r Massachusetts 
1 Connecticut 
j Rhode Island 
^ New Hampshire 
I Vermont 
1 . Alaine 


Providence 

Concord 

Montpelier 

Augusta 


Boston 

Hartford 


Middle "I Delaware 
States I Alaryland 


New York 
New Jersey 
Pennsylvania 


Albany 

Trenton 

Harrisburg 

Dover 

Annapolis 

Columbus 

Indianapolis 


I Ohio 
Indiana 


r Virginia 


Richmond 

Charleston 

Raleigh 

Columbia 

Atlanta 

Montgomery 

Tallahassee 

Frankfort 

Nashville 

Jackson 

Baton Rouge 


West Virginia 
North Carolina 
South Carolina 


Southern 

or 

Slave States 


Georgia 

Alabama 

Florida 


Kentucky 

Tennessee 

Mississippi 

Louisiana 


i Arkansas 
Alissouri 
Texas 


Little Rock 
Jefferson City 
Austin 

Oklahoma City 
Santa Fe 


Oklahoma 


i New Mexico 







UNITED STATES AS A NATION. 


■ 9 



Michigan 

Lansing 


Illinois 

Springfield 


Wisconsin 

Madison 


Minnesota 

St. Paul 

North 

Iowa 

Des Moines 

Western 

Nebraska 

Lincoln 

States 

Kansas 

Topeka 


Colorado 

Denver 


North Dakota 

Bismarck 


South Dakota 

Pierre 


Wyoming 

Cheyenne 


Montana 

Helena 


^ Idaho 

Boise City 


' California 

Sacramento 


Nevada 

Carson City 

Pacific ^ 

Arizona 

Phoenix 

States 

Utah 

Salt Lake City 


Oregon 

Salem 


^ Washington 

Olympia 


Territories and Insular Possessions: 

District of Columbia (over which Congress has 
exclusive jurisdiction), 

Philippine Islands, 

Porto Rico, 

Tutuila, 

Samoan Group, 

Ladrone Islands, 

Midway Islands, 

Wake Islands, 

Panama Canal Zone, 

Guam Islands. 

The thirteen original colonies 

New Hampshire, 

Massachusetts, 

Rhode Island, 

Connecticut, 

New York, 

New Jersey, 

Pennsylvania, 

Delaware, 

Maryland, 

Virginia, 

North Carolina, 

South Carolina, 

Georgia. 





lO ■ 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


The Flag. 

In 1776 Washington began to use an American flag, which 
was like the British flag, except that the thirteen stripes in 
the American flag took the place of the solid red of the 
British flag. Congress adopted the “Stars and Stripes” 14th 
June 1777, a stripe for each of the thirteen original colonies. 
The official flag of the United States bears forty-eight white 
stars in a blue field, arranged in six rows of eight stars each, 
each star representing one of the forty-eight states, of which 
the Union now consists, and thirteen red and white stripes, 
one for each of the original states. 




PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Presidents of the United States. 

Term of Office 


George Washington .1789-1797 

John Adams .1797-1801 

Thomas Jefferson ..1801-1809 

James Madison.1809-1817 

James Monroe .1817-1825 

John Quincy Adams .1825-1829 

Andrew Jackson .1829-1837 

Martin Van Buren ..1837-1841 

Wm. H. Harrison .1841-1841 

John Tyler .1841-1845 

James K. Polk .1845-1849 

Zachary Taylor .1849-1850 

Millard Fillmore .1850-1853 

Franklin Pierce .1853-1857 

James Buchanan .1857-1861 

Abraham Lincoln .1861-1865 

Andrew Johnson .1865-1869 

Ulysses S. Grant.1869-1877 

Rutherford B. Hayes.1877-1881 

James A. Garfield.1881-1881 

Chester A. Arthur .1881-1885 

Grover Cleveland .1885-1889 

Benjamin Harrison.1889-1893 

Grover Cleveland.1893-1897 

William McKinley .1897-1901 

Theodore Roosevelt .1901-1909 

William H. Taft.1909-1913 


j 1913-1917 

I 1917- 


Woodrow Wilson 






























12 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


Some Legal Holidays. 

January ist; February 12th and 22d; Good Friday, fast 
day; May 30th; July 4th; Labor Day, first Monday in Sep¬ 
tember; October 12th; Thanksiving, last Thursday in No¬ 
vember; Christmas, December 25th. 

Dates of some Important Events in the History 
of the United States. 

1606 First Charter of Virginia. 

1607 First Settlement in Virginia. 

1620 Massachusetts settled. 

1624 New York founded by Dutch Trading Co. 

1664 New York taken by the English. 

1775 Beginning of Revolutionary War. 

1776 Declaration of Independence. 

1781 Formation of Confederation. 

1783 Independence of United States recognized. 

1787 Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia. 

1788 Constitution ratified by nine States. 

1789 Beginning of Federal Government. 

1793 Invention of Cotton Gin. 

1803 Louisiana bought from France. 

1812-14 War with England. 1 

1819 Florida bought from Spain. 

1819 First Steamship crossed Atlantic Ocean. 

1830 First Passenger Railway. 

1844 First Electric Telegraph. 

1846-48 Mexican War and Cession of California. 

1861-65 Civil War or War of Secession, between North 
and South. 

1869 First Railway across the country. 

1877 Northern troops withdrawn from South. 

1898 War with Spain. 

1899 Cession by Spain of Puerto Rico and the Philip¬ 

pine Islands. 

1904 Panama Canal Zone acquired. 

1917 War with Germany and Austria-Hungary. 


RIGHTS AND DUTIES. 


13 


Some Inalienable Rights of American Citizens. 

An American citizen is a free man. No one can enslave 
his person except for crime, of which he must first be con¬ 
victed, upon a fair trial in open court; or take from him 
his property, except by due process of law. 

He may believe what he pleases and worship God as he 
pleases. He may state by word of mouth or in writing his 
opinion on all subjects freely, but may be punished for 
libelous attacks on a fellow citizen. He has a right to assemble 
with whom he pleases for lawful and proper objects, and to 
petition the state or United States government for redress 
of grievances. 

He may be arrested only for cause shown in a proper legal 
warrant served by an authorized officer of the law who must 
show his authority. 

If imprisoned, he has a right to be released on bail, unless 
charged with a capital crime, and to be produced before the 
nearest Court, in order that it may be decided whether his 
arrest was properly made and for sufficient cause. 

He has a right to a trial by a jury, and to be confronted 
with witness; to a competent attorney to 'defend him, and 
to know before His arrest the charge against him. 

He has a right to be secure in his house against search by 
officers of the law, except upon proper warrant, which must 
first be shown him, and for sufficient cause. 


Some Duties of an American Citizen. 

It is the duty of every American citizen to obey the laws, 
even if they seem to him to be unjust or unwise. 

It is his duty to vote at all elections, after having informed 
himself concerning the men and measures which he is to 
support. 

It is his duty to insist upon the execution of the laws; to 
be ready even at personal inconvenience* to aid in their en¬ 
forcement, if he is called upon by proper officers, and to 
oppose lawlessness and violence. 

It is his duty to serve when called upon to do jury duty, 
even at great inconvenience. 


14 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


It is his duty to perform military duty if commanded. 

It is his duty to act with some political party and to exert 
his influence upon its leaders to bring about the nomination 
of efficient and honest men for office. It is his duty, if his 
party nominates a bad man, to vote against him, and thus 
keep the public good before his eyes and set an example of 
true public spirit before his fellows. 

It is his duty to watch the conduct of public officers, to see 
that they perform their duties and observe their constitutional 
limitations; if they do not, then it is his duty to help to 
expose them, and at the elections to oppose them. 

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 
In Congress. 

July 4, 1776. 

THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION 

OF THE 

THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary 
for one people to dissolve the political bands which have con¬ 
nected them with another, and to assume, among the powers 
of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws 
of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to 
the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the 
causes which impel them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are 
created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with 
certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, 
and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, 
governments are instituted among men, deriving their just 
powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any 
form of government*becomes destructive to these ends, it is 
the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute 
a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, 
and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem 
most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 


15 


indeed, will dictate, that governments long established should 
not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly 
all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to 
suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by 
abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when 
a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the 
same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute 
despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such 
government, and to provide new guards for their future security. 
Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies, and 
such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their 
former systems of government. The history of the present King 
of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpa¬ 
tions, all having in direct object the establishment of an abso¬ 
lute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be 
submitted to a candid world. 

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and 
necessary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate 
and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation 
till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he 
has utterly neglected to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation 
of large districts of people, unless those people would relin¬ 
quish the right of representation in the legislature, a right in¬ 
estimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, 
uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public 
records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance 
with his measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for op¬ 
posing with manly firmness his.invasions on the rights of the 
people. 

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to 
cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, in¬ 
capable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large 
for their exercise; the State remaining, in the meantime, 
exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without and 
convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these 


i 6 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


States; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturaliza¬ 
tion of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their 
migration hither; and raising the conditions of new appro¬ 
priations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice by refusing 
his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the 
tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their 
salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither 
swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their sub¬ 
stance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, 
without the consent of our legislatures. 

He has affected to render the military independent of and 
superior to the civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction 
foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; 
giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation: 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for 
any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of 
these States: 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world: 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent: 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by 
jury: 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended 
offenses: 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neigh¬ 
boring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, 
and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an ex¬ 
ample and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute 
rule into these Colonies: 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable 
laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our govern¬ 
ments : 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring them¬ 
selves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases what¬ 
soever. 


DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 


17 


He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of 
his protection, and waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our 
towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign 
mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and 
tyranny, already begun, with circumstances of cruelty and 
perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, 
and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the 
high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the 
executors of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves 
by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has 
endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the 
merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an 
undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for 
redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have 
been answered only by repeated injury. A prince whose char¬ 
acter is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, 
is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in our attention to our British 
brethren. We have warned them, from, time to time, of 
attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable juris¬ 
diction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances 
of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed 
to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured 
them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these 
usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connexions 
and correspondence. They, too, have been deaf to the voice 
of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore^acquiesce 
in the necessity which denounces our separation, and hold 
them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace, 
friends. 

We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of 
America, in General Congress assembled, appealing to the Su¬ 
preme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, 
do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of 
these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare. That these 


i8 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and inde¬ 
pendent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to 
the British crown, and that all political connexion between 
them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, 
totally dissolved; and that as free and independent States, 
they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract 
alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and 
things which independent States may of right do. And for 
the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the 
protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each 


other our lives, our fortunes. 


Georgia. 

Button Gwinnett. 
Lyman Hall. 

Geo. Walton. 

South Carolina. 
Edward Rutledge. 

Thos. Heyward, junr. 
Thomas Lynch, junr. 
Arthur Middleton. < 

Virginia. 
George Wythe. 

Richard Henry Lee. 
Thos. Jefferson. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Thos. Nelson, Jr. 
Francis Mghtfoot Lee. 
Carter Braxton. 

Delaware. 
Caesar Rodney. 

Geo. Read. 

Tho. M’Kean. 


and our sacred honor. 

JOHN HANCOCK. 

New Jersey. 

Richd. Stockton. 

Jno. Witherspoon. 

Fras. Hopkinson. 

John H^'rt. 

Abra. Clark. 

New Hampshire. 

Josiah Bartlett. 

Wm. Whipple. 

Matthew Thornton. 

Rhode Island and Providence, 
etc. 

Step. Hopkins. 

William Ellery. 

Massachusetts Bay. 
Sami. Adams. 

John Adams. 

Robt. Treat Paine. 

Elbridge Gerry. 


DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 


North Carolina. 

Wm. Hooper. 

Joseph Hewes. 

John Penn. 

Maryland. 

Samuel Chase. 

Wm. Paca. 

Thos. Stone. 

Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 


19 

Jas. Smith. • 

Geo. Taylor. 

James Wilson. 

Geo. Ross. 

New York. 

Wm. Floyd. 

Phil. Livingston. 

Fran’s. Lewis. 

Lewis Morris. 


Pennsylvania. 
Robt. Morris. 
Benjamin Rush. 
Benja. Franklin. 

John Morton. 

Geo. Clymer. 


Connecticut. 
Roger Sherman. 

Sami. Huntington. 

Wm. Williams. 

Oliver Wolcott. 

IN CONGRESS, 

January 18, 1777. 


Ordered: 

That an authenticated copy of the Declaration of Indepen¬ 
dence, with the names of the Members of Congress subscrib¬ 
ing the same, be sent to each of the United States, and that 
they be desired Jo have the same put on record. 

By order of Congress. 

JOHN HANCOCK, 


President. 

Attest, Chas. Thomson, 

Secy. 

A true copy, 

John Hancock, 

Presidt. 


Constitution of the United States. 


ARTICLE 1 . 

Section i. Legislative powers; in whom vested. 

Sec. 2. House of Representatives, how and by whom chosen 
— Qualifications of a Representative — Representatives and 
direct taxes, how apportioned — Census — Vacancies to be 
filled — Power of choosing officers, and of impeachment. 

Sec. 3. Senators how and by whom chosen — How classi¬ 
fied — State Executive to make temporary appointments, in 
case, etc. — Qualifications of a Senator — President of the 
Senate, his right to vote — President pro tern., and other offi¬ 
cers of Senate, how chosen — Power to try impeachment — 
When President is tried, Chief Justice to preside — Sentence. 

Sec. 4. Times, ‘etc., of holding elections, how prescribed — 
One session in each year. 

Sec. 5. Membership — Quorum — Adjournments — Rules — 
Power to punish or expel — Journal — Time of adjournments 
limited, unless, etc. 

Sec. 6. Compensation — Privileges — Disqualification in cer¬ 
tain cases. 

Sec. 7. House to originate all revenue bills — Veto — Bill 
may be passed by two-thirds of each house notwithstanding, 
etc. — Bill not returned in ten days — Provision as to all 
orders, etc., except, etc. 

Sec. 8. Powers of Congress. 

Sec. 9. Provision as to migration or importation of certain 
persons — Habeas Corpus — Bills of attainder, etc. — Taxes, 
how apportioned —No export duty—No commercial prefer¬ 
ence—No money drawn from treasury, unless, etc. —No 
titular nobility — Officers not to receive presents, unless, etc. 

Sec. 10. States prohibited from the exercise of certain 
powers. 


ARTICLE H. 

Section i. President; his term of office — Electors of 
President; number and how appointed — Electors to vote on 



CONSTITUTION. 


21 


same day — Qualifications of President—On whom his duties 
devolve in case of removal, death, etc. — President’s compen¬ 
sation— His oath. 

Sec. 2. President to be commander-in-chief — He may re¬ 
quire opinion of, etc., and may pardon — Treaty-making power 
— Nomination of certain officers — When President may fill 
vacancies. 

Sec. 3. President shall communicate to Congress — He may 
convene and adjourn Congress, in case, etc.; shall receive am¬ 
bassadors, execute laws, and commission officers. 

Sec. 4. All civil offices forfeited for certain crimes. 

ARTICLE III. 

Section i. Judicial power — Tenure — Compensation. 

Sec. 2. Judicial power; to what cases it extends — Original 
jurisdiction of Supreme Court — Appellate — Trial by jury, 
except, etc. — Trial where. 

Sec. 3. Treason defined — Proof of — Punishment of. 

ARTICLE IV. 

Section i. Each State to give credit to the public acts, etc., 
of every other State. 

Sec. 2. Privileges of citizens of each State — Fugitives from 
justice to be delivered up — Persons held to service having es¬ 
caped, to be delivered up. 

Sec. 3. Admission of new States — Power of Congress over 
territory and other property. 

Sec. 4. Republican form of government guaranteed — Each 
State to be protected. 

ARTICLE V. 

Constitution; how amended — Proviso. 

ARTICLE VI. 

Certain debts, etc., adopted—Supremacy of Constitution, 
treaties, and laws of the United States — Oath to support Con¬ 
stitution, by whom taken — No religious test. 

ARTICLE VII. 

What ratification shall establish Constitution. 


22 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


AMENDMENTS. 

I, Religious establishment prohibited — Freedom of 
speech, of the press, and right to petition. 

II. Right to keep and bear arms. 

III. No soldier to be quartered in any house, unless, etc. 

IV. Right of search and seizure regulated. 

V. Provisions concerning prosecutions, trial, and punish¬ 
ment— Private property not to be taken for public 
use, without, etc. 

VI. Further provisions respecting criminal prosecutions. 

VII. Right of trial by jury secured. 

VIII. Excessive bail or fines and cruel punishments pro¬ 
hibited. 

IX. Rule of construction. 

X. Same subject. 

XI. Same subject. 

XII. Manner of choosing President and Vice-President. 

XIII. Slavery abolished. 

XIV. Citizenship. 

XV. Right of suffrage. 

XVI. Right to lay income tax. 

XVII. Senators to be elected by the people. 


PREAMBLE. 

We the people of the United States, in order to form a 
more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquil¬ 
lity, provide for the common defense, promote the general wel¬ 
fare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our 
posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the 
United States of America. 

ARTICLE 1 . 

Secti6n I. 

i. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a 
congress of the United States, which shall consist of a senate 
and house of representatives. 

Section 2. 

i. The house of representatives shall be composed of mem¬ 
bers chosen every second year by the people of the several 



CONSTITUTION. 


23 


States, and the electors in each State shall have the qualifica¬ 
tions requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of 
the State legislature. 

2. No person shall be a representative who shall not have 
attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years 
a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, 
be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 

3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned 
among the several States which may be included within this 
Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be 
determined by adding to the whole number .of free persons, 
including those bound to service for a term of years, and ex¬ 
cluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. 
The actual enumeration shall be made within three years 
after the first meeting of the congress of the United States, 
and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such man¬ 
ner as they shall by law direct. The number of representatives 
shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State 
shall have at least one representative; and until such enumera¬ 
tion shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be en¬ 
titled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and 
Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five. New York six. 
New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland 
six, Virginia ten. North Carolina five. South Carolina five, 
and Georgia three. 

4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any 
State, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of elec¬ 
tion to fill such vacancies. 

5. The house of representatives shall choose their speaker 
and other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeach¬ 
ment. 


Section 3. 

1. The senate of the United States shall be composed of two 
senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, 
for six years; and each senator shall have one vote. 

2. Immediately after they^ shall be assembled in conse¬ 
quence of the first election, they shall be divided as equally as 
may be into three classes. The seats of the senators of the 
first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second 


24 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, 
and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so 
that one-third may be chosen every second year; and if 
vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the re¬ 
cess of the legislature of any State, the executive thereof may 
make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the 
legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies. 

3. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained 
to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the 
United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an in¬ 
habitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. 

4. The vice-president of the United States shall be presi¬ 
dent of the senate, but shall Have no vote, unless they be 
equally divided. 

5. The senate shall choose their other officers, and also a 
president pro tempore in the absence of the vice-president, or 
when he shall exercise the office of president of the United 
States. 

0 . The senate shall have the sole power to try all impeach¬ 
ments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath 
or affirmation. When the president of the United States is 
tried, the chief justice shall preside: And no person shall be 
convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the mem¬ 
bers present. 

7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend fur¬ 
ther than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold 
and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United 
States: But the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable 
and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, 
according to law. 


Section 4. 

1. The times, places and manner of holding elections for 
senators and representatives shall be prescribed in each State 
by the legislature thereof; but the congress may at any time 
by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places 
of choosing senators. 

2. The congress shall assemble at least once in every year, 
and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, 
unless they shall by law appoint a different day. 


CONSTITUTION. 


25 


Section 5. 

1. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns 
and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each 
shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller num¬ 
ber may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized’to 
compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner and 
under such penalties as each house may provide. 

2. Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, 
punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the con¬ 
currence of two-thirds, expel a member. 

3. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and 
from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as 
may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays 
of the members of either house on any question shall, at the 
desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journa-1. 

4. Neither house, during the session of congress, shall, with¬ 
out the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three da^s, 
nor to any other place than that in which the two houses shall 
be sitting. 

Section 6. 

1. The senators and representatives shall receive a compen¬ 
sation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid 
out of the treasury of the United States, They shall in all 
cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privi¬ 
leged from arrest during their attendance at the session of 
their respective houses, and in going to and returning from the 
same; and for any speech or debate in. either house, they shall 
not be questioned in any other place, 

2. No senator or representative shall, during the tirne for 
which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the 
authority of the United States, which shall have been created, 
or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during 
such time; and no person holding any office under the United 
States shall be a member of either house during his continu¬ 
ance in office. 

Section 7. 

I. All bills for raising revenues shall originate in the house 
of representatives; but the senate may propose or concur with 
amendments as on other bills. 


26 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


2. Every bill which shall have passed the house of repre¬ 
sentatives and the senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be 
presented to the president of the United States; if he approve 
he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objec¬ 
tions, to that house in which it shall have originated, who shall 
enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to 
reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two-thirds of that 
house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with 
the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise 
be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that house, 
it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both 
houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names 
of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered 
on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall 
not be returned by the president within ten days (Sundays 
excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same 
shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the 
congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case 
it shall not be a law. 

3. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence 
of the senate and house of representatives may be necessary 
(except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to 
the president of the United States; and before the same shall 
take effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by 
him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the senate and house 
of representatives, according to the rules and limitations pre¬ 
scribed in the case of a bill. 

Section 8. 

The congress shall have power: 

1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises ; to 
pay the debts and provide for the common defense and gen¬ 
eral welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts, and 
excises shall be uniform throughout the United States. 

2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States. 

3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among 
the several States, and with the Indian tribes. 

4. To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uni¬ 
form laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the 
United States. 



CONSTITUTION. 


27 


5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign 
coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures. 

6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the 

securities and current coin of the United States. * 

7. To establish post-offices and post-roads. 

8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by 
securing for limited times, to authors and inventors, the exclu¬ 
sive right to their respective writings and discoveries, 

g. To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court; to 
define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the higli 
seas, and offenses against the law of nations. 

10. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, 
and make rules concerning captures on land and water. 

11. To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of 
money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years. 

12. To provide and maintain a navy. 

' 13. To make rules for the government and regulation of 
the land and naval forces. 

14. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the 
laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions. 

15. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining th,e 
militia, and for governing 'SUch part of them as may be em¬ 
ployed in the service of the United States; reserving to the 
States respectively the appointment of the officers and the 
authority of training the militia according to the discipline 
prescribed by congress, 

16. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatso¬ 
ever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as 
may, by cession of particular States, and the acceptance of 
congress, become the seat of the government of the United 
States; and to exercise like authority over all places pur¬ 
chased, by the consent of the legislature of the State in which 
the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, 
dockyards, and other needful buildings; and 

17. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper 
for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all 
other powers vested by this constitution in the government of 
the United States, or in any department or officer thereof. 


f 


28 AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 

Section 9.* 

1. The migration or importation of such persons as any of 
the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not 
Te prohibited by the congress prior to the year one thousand 

eight hundred and eight; but a tax or duty may be imposed 
on such importation not exceeding ten dollars for each person. 

2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be 
suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the 
public safety may require it. 

3. No bill of attainder, or ex post facto law shall be passed. 

4. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in 
proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed 
to be taken. 

5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from 
any State. No preference shall be given by any regulation of 
commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of 
another; nor shall vessels bound to or from one State be 
obliged to enter, clear or pay duties in another. 

6. No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in con¬ 
sequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular state¬ 
ment and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public 
.money shall be published from time to time. 

7. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States; 
and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them 
shall, without the consent of the congress, accept of any 
present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever from 
any king, prince or foreign State. 

Section 10. 

1. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or con¬ 
federation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; 
emit bills of credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a 
tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post 
facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts; or 
grant any title of nobility. 

2. No State shall, without the consent of the congress, lay 
any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may 
be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws, and 
the net produce of all duties and imposts laid by any State on 
imports or exports shall be for the use of the treasury of the 


CONSTITUTION. 


29 


United States, and all such laws shall be subject to the revi¬ 
sion and control of the congress. No State shall, without the 
consent of congress, lay any duty or tonnage, keep troops 
or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or 
compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or 
engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent 
danger as will not admit of delay. 


ARTICLE II. 

Section i. 

1. The executive power shall be vested in a president of the 
United States of America. He shall hold his office during the 
term of four years; and together with the vice-president 
chosen for the same term, shall be elected as follows: 

2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legisla¬ 
ture thereof may direct, a number of electors equal to the 
whole number of senators and representatives to which the 
State may be entitled in the congress; but no senator or repre¬ 
sentative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under 
the United States, shall be appointed an elector. 

3. [The electors shall meet in their respective States, and 
vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not 
be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they 
shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the num¬ 
ber of votes for each; which list they shall sign and certify, 
and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the 
United States, directed to the president of the senate. The 
president of the senate shall, in the presence of the senate and 
house of representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes 
shall then be counted. The person having the greatest num¬ 
ber of votes shall be the president, if such number be a 
majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if 
there be more than one who have such majority, and have an 
equal number of votes, then the house of representatives shall 
immediately choose by ballot, one of them for president; and 
if no person have a majority, then, from the five highest on 
the list, the said house shall, in like manner, choose the presi¬ 
dent. But in choosing the president, the vote shall be taken 


30 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


by States, the representation from each State having one vote; 
a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or mem¬ 
bers from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the 
States shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the 
choice of the president, the person having the greatest num¬ 
ber of votes of the electors shall be the vice-president. But 
if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, 
the senate shall choose from them, by ballot, the vice-presi¬ 
dent.]* 

4. The congress may determine the time of choosing the 
electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes, 
which day shall be the same throughout the United States. 

5. No person, except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of 
the United States at the time of the adoption of this constitu¬ 
tion, shall be eligible to the office of president; neither shall 
any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained 
to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a 
resident within the United States. 

6. In case of the removal of the president from office, or 
of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers 
and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the 
vice-president; and the congress may, by law, provide for 
the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability both of the 
president and vice-president, declaring what officer shall then 
act as president; and such officer shall act accordingly until 
the disability be removed, or a president shall be elected. 

7. The president shall, at stated times, receive for his ser¬ 
vices a compensation which shall neither be increased nor 
diminished during the peric^ for which he shall have been 
elected; and he shall not receive within that period any other 
emolument from the United States, or any of them. 

8. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall 
take the following oath or affirmation: 

‘T do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully exe¬ 
cute the office of President of the United States; and will, to 
the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the con¬ 
stitution of the United States. 


* This paragraph has been superseded and annulled by the 12th 
amendment. 



CONSTITUTION. 


31 


Section 2. 

I. The president shall be commander-in-chief of the army 
and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the sev¬ 
eral States, when called into the actual service of the United 
States. He may require the opinion, in writing, of the prin¬ 
cipal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any 
subject relating to the duties of their respective offices; and 
he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for 
offences against the United States, except in cases of impeach¬ 
ment. 

•2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and con¬ 
sent of the senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the 
senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and 
with the advice and consent of the senate shall appoint, ambas¬ 
sadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the 
supreme court, and all other officers of the United States 
whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, 
and which shall be established by law. But the congress may, 
by law, vest the appointment of such inferior officers as they 
think proper, in the president alone, in the courts of law, or 
in the heads of departments. 

3. The president shall have power to fill up all vacancies 
that may happen during the recess of the senate, by granting 
commissions which shall expire at the end of their next 
session. 

Section 3. 

I. He shall, from time to time, give to the congress infor¬ 
mation of the state of the Union, and recommend to their con¬ 
sideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and 
expedient. He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both 
houses, or either of them; and in case of disagreement be¬ 
tween them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may 
adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper. He shall 
receive ambassadors and other public ministers. He shall take 
care that the laws be faithfully executed; and shall commis¬ 
sion all the officers of the United States. 

Section 4. 

I. The president, vice-president, and all civil officers of the 
United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment 


32 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


for, and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes 
and misdemeanors. 


ARTICLE III. 

Section i. 

I. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested 
in one supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the con¬ 
gress may, from time to time, ordain and establish. The 
judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold 
their offices during good behavior; and shall, at stated times, 
receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be 
diminished during their continuance in office. 

Section 2. 

1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law and 
equity arising under this constitution, the laws of the United 
States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their 
authority; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public 
ministers, and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime 
jurisdiction; to controversies to which the United States shall 
be a party; to controversies between two or more States; be¬ 
tween a State and citizens of another State;' between citizens 
of different States; between citizens of the same State claim¬ 
ing lands under grants of different States, and between a 
State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens or 
subjects. 

2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers 
and consuls, and those in which a State shall be party, the 
supreme court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the 
other cases before mentioned, the supreme court shall have 
appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such excep¬ 
tions and under such regulations as the congress shall make. 

3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, 
shall be by jury, and such trial shall be held in the State where 
the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not 
committed within any State, the trial shall be at such place or 
places as the congress may by law have directed. 

Section 3, 

I. Treason against the United States shall consist only in 
levying war against them or in adhering to their enemies, giv- 


CONSTITUTION. 


33 


t 

ing them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of 
treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same 
overt act, or on confession in open court. 

2. ^TI>e congress shall have power to declare the punish¬ 
ment of treason; but no attainder of treason shall work cor¬ 
ruption of blood, or forfeiture, except during the life of the 
person attainted. 


ARTICLE IV. 

Section i. 

I. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the 
public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other 
State; and the congress may, by general laws, prescribe the 
manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be 
proved, and the effect thereof. 

Section 2. 

1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privi¬ 
leges and immunities of citizens in the several States. 

2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or 
other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in 
another State, shall, on demand of the executive authority of 
the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed 
to the State having jurisdiction of the crime. 

3. No person held to service or labor in one State under 
the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence 
of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such 
service or labor; but shall be delivered up on claim of the 
party to whom such service or labor may be due. 

Section 3. 

1. New States may be admitted by the congress into this 
Union; but no new States shall be formed or erected within 
the jurisdiction of any other State, nor any State be formed 
by the junction of two or more States or parts of States, 
without the consent of the legislatures of the States concerned, 
as well as of the congress. 

2. The congress shall have power to dispose of and make 
all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or 
other property belonging to the United States; and nothing 


34 


I 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


in this constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any 
claims of the United States, or of any particular State. 

Section 4. 

I. The United States shall guarantee to every State'in this 
Union a republican form of government, and shall protect 
each of them against invasion; and, on application of the 
legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot 
be convened), against domestic violence. 

ARTICLE V. 

I. The congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall 
deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this consti¬ 
tution; or, on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds 
of the several States, shall call a convention for proposing 
amendments which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents 
and purposes, as part of this constitution, when ratified by the 
legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by con¬ 
ventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other 
mode of ratification may be proposed by the congress; pro¬ 
vided that no amendment, which may be made prior to the 
year one thousand eight hundred and eight, shall in any 
manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section 
of the first article; and that no State, without its consent, 
shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the senate. 

ARTICLE VI. 

1. All debts contracted and engagements entered into be¬ 
fore the adoption, of this constitution shall be as valid against 
the United States under this constitution, as under the con¬ 
federation. 

2. This constitution, and the laws of the United States 
which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties 
made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the 
United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the 
judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the 
constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwith¬ 
standing. 

3. The senators and representatives before mentioned and 
the members of the several State legislatures, and all executive 


CONSTITUTION. 


35 


and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the 
several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support 
this constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required 
as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United 
States. 

ARTICLE VII. 

I. The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall 
be sufficient for the establishment of this constitution between 
the States so ratifying the same. 

Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the 
States present, the seventeenth day of September, in 
the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and 
eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United 
States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof we 
have hereunto subscribed our names. 

G^: WASHINGTON, 

Presidt, and Deputy from Virginia. 

New Hampshire. 

John Langdon, . Nicholas Gilman. 


Nathaniel Gorham, 

Wm. Saml. Johnson, 

Alexander Hamilton. 

Wil: Livingston, 

Wm. Paterson, 

B. Franklin, 

Robt. Morris, 

Thos FitzSimmons, 
James Wilson, 


Massachusetts. 

Rufus King. 

Connecticut. 

Roger Sherman. 

New York. 

New Jersey. 

David Brearley, 
Jona: Dayton. 

Pennsylvania. 

Thomas Mifflin, 
Geo. Clymer, 
Jared Ingersoll, 
Gouv Morris. 


36 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


Delaware. 

Geo: Read, Richard Bassett, 

John Dickinson, . Gunning Bedford, Jun. 
Jaco: Broom, 

Maryland. 

James McHenry, Dan of St. Thos. Jenifer. 

Dane. Carroll, 

Virginia. 

John Blair, James Madison, Jr. 


Wm. Blount, 

Hu Williamson, 

J. Rutledge, 
Charles Pinckney, 


North Carolina. 

Richd. Dobbs Spaight. 


South Carolina. 

Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, 
Pierce Butler. 


William Few, 

I 

Attest: 


Georgia. 

Abr. Baldwin. 

WILLIAM JACKSON, Secretary. 


Amendments to the Constitution of the 
United States. 

The following amendments were proposed at the first ses¬ 
sion of the first congress of the United States, which was 
begun and held at the city of New York on the 4th of March,. 
1789, and were adopted by the requisite number of States. 
Laws of the U. S., vol. i, page 82. 

[The following preamble and resolution preceded the original 
proposition of the amendments, and as they have been sup¬ 
posed to have an important bearing on the construction of 
those amendments they are here inserted. They will be found 
in the journals of the first session of the first congress.] 

CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Begun and held at the city of New York, on Wednesday, the 
4th day of March, 1789. 

The conventions of a number of the States having, at the 
time of their adopting the constitution, expressed a desire, in 


CONSTITUTION. 


37 


order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that 
further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added, 
and as extending the ground of public confidence in the gov¬ 
ernment will best insure the beneficent ends of its institution: 

Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America, in congress assembled, two- 
thirds of both houses concurring, that the following articles 
be proposed to the legislatures of the several States, as amend¬ 
ments to the constitution of the United States; all or any of 
which articles, when ratified by three-fourths of the said legis¬ 
latures, to be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of the 
said constitution, namely: 

ARTICLE L ' 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging 
the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the 
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government 
for a redress of grievances. 

ARTICLE 11 . 

A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a 
free State the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall 
not be infringed. 

ARTICLE III. 

No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house 
without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a 
manner to be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE IV. 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, 
shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue but upon 
probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and par¬ 
ticularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons 
or things to be seized. 

ARTICLE V. 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise 
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a 


38 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, 
or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or 
public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same 
offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall 
be compelled in any criminal case, to be a witness against 
himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without 
due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for 
public use without just compensation. 

ARTICLE VL 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right 
to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State 
and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, 
which district shall have been previously ascertained by law; 
and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; 
to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have 
compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and 
to have the assistance of counsel for his defense. 

ARTICLE VIL 

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall 
exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be pre¬ 
served; and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-ex¬ 
amined in any court of the United States, than according to 
the rules of the common law.* 

ARTICLE VIII. 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines im¬ 
posed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

ARTICLE IX. 

The enumeration in the constitution of certain rights shall 
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the 
people. 

ARTICLE X. 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the con¬ 
stitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to 
the States respectively, or to the people. 


* This affects only United States Courts. 



CONSTITUTION. 


39 


[The following amendment was proposed at the second ses¬ 
sion of the third congress. It is printed in the Laws of the 
United States, vol. i, p. 73, as article ii.] 

ARTICLE XL 

The judicial power of the United States shall not be con¬ 
strued to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or 
prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of 
another State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state. 

[The three following sections were proposed as amendments 
at the first session of the eighth congress. They are printed in 
the laws of the United States as article 12.] 

ARTICLE XII. 

I. The electors shall meet in their respective States, and 
vote by ballot for president and vice-president, one of whom 
at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with them¬ 
selves. They shall name in their ballots the person voted for 
as president, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as 
vice-president, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons 
voted for as president, and of all persons voted for as vice- 
president, and of the number of votes for each; which lists 
they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of 
the government of the United States, directed to the president 
of the senate. The president of the senate shall, in the 
presence of the senate and house of representatives, open all 
the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The per¬ 
son having the greatest number of votes for president shall 
be the president, if such number be a majority of the whole 
number'of electors appointed; and if no person have such 
majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers, 
not exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as president, 
the house of representatives shall choose immediately, by bal¬ 
lot, the president. But in choosing the president, the votes 
shall be taken by States, the representation from each State 
having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a 
member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a 
majority of all the States 5hall be necessary to a choice. And 
if the house of representatives shall not choose a president, 
whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before 


40 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


the fourth day of March next following, then the vice-presi¬ 
dent shall act as president, as in the case of the death or other 
constitutional disability of the president. 

2. The person having the greatest number of votes as vice- 
president shall be the^ vice-president, if such number be a ma¬ 
jority of the whole number of electors appointed, and if no 
person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers 
on the list the senate shall choose the vice-president. A 
quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the 
whole number of senators, and a majority of the whole num¬ 
ber shall be necessary to a choice. 

3. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of 
president shall be eligible to that of vice-president of the 
United States. 

ARTICLE XIII. 

Section i. 

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a pun¬ 
ishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly 
convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place 
subject to their jurisdiction. 

Section 2. 

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro¬ 
priate legislation. 


ARTICLE XIV. 

Section i. 

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and 
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of t}ie United 
States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall 
make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or 
immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any 
State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without 
due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdic¬ 
tion the equal protection of the laws. 

Section 2. 

Representatives shall be apportioned among the several 
States according to their respective numbers, counting the 


CONSTITUTION. 


41 


whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not 
taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the 
choice of electors for president and vice-president of the 
United States, representatives in congress, the executive and 
judicial officers of a State, or the members of the legislature 
thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, 
being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United 
States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in 
rebellion or other crime, the basis of representation therein 
shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such 
male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens 
twenty-one years of age in such State. 

Section 3. 

No person shall be a senator or representative in congress, 
or elector of president and vice-president, or hold any office, 
civil or rnilitary, under the United States, or under any State, 
who, having previously taken an oath as a member of congress, 
or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any 
State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any 
State, to support the constitution of the United States, shall 
have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or 
given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But congress 
may, by a vote of two-thirds of each house, remove such 
disability. 

Section 4. 

The validity of the public debt of the United States author¬ 
ized by law including debts incurred for payment of pensions 
and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebel¬ 
lion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States 
nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation in¬ 
curred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United 
States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; 
but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal 
and void. 

Section 5. 

The congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate 
legislation, the provisions of this article. 


42 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


ARTICLE XV. 

Section i. 

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not 
be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on 
account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 

Section 2. 

The congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation. 


ARTICLE XVI. 

The congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on 
incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportion¬ 
ment among the several states, and without regard to any 
census or enumeration. 

ARTICLE XVII. 

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two 
Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for 
six years ; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors 
in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors 
of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures. When 
vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the 
Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs 
of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legis¬ 
lature of any State may empower the executive thereof to 
make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacan¬ 
cies by election as the legislature may direct. This amendment 
shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of 
any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the 
Constitution. 


NATURALIZATION LAWS. 

Act of June 29, 1906 (34 Stat. L., Part i, p. 596), as 
amended in sections 16, 17, and 19 by the act of Con¬ 
gress approved March 4, 1909 (35 Stat. L., Part i, p. 
1102); in section 13 by the act of Congress approved 
June 25, 1910 (36 Stat. L., Part i, p. 830); by the act of 
Congress approved March 4, 1913 (37 Stat. L., Part i, 
P‘ 736), creating the Department of Labor; and by the 
act of Congress approved May 9, 1918 (Public, No. 144, 
65th Cong., 2d sess.). 

An Act to provide for a uniform rule for the naturalization of aliens 
throughout the United States. 

[Act of June 29, 1906, as amended by the acts above referred to.] 
That the Bureau of Naturalization, under the direction and 
control of the Secretary of Labor, shall have charge of all 
matters concerning the naturalization of aliens. That it shall 
be the duty of the Bureau of Immigration to provide, for 
use at the various immigration stations throughout the United 
States, books of record, wherein the commissioners of immi¬ 
gration shall cause a registry to be made in the case of each 
alien arriving in the United States, from and after the passage 
of this act of the name, age, occupation, personal description 
(including height, complexion, color of hair and eyes), the 
place of birth, the last residence, the intended place of resi¬ 
dence in the United States, and the date of arrival of said 
alien, and, if entered through a port, the name of the vessel 
in which he comes. And it shall be the duty of said commis¬ 
sioners of immigration to cause to be granted to such alien a 
certificate of such registry, with the particulars thereof. 

He >ts * * * 

Sec. 3. That exclusive jurisdiction to naturalize aliens as 
citizens of the United States is hereby conferred upon the 
following specified courts: 

United States * * district courts now existing, or 

which may hereafter be established by Congress in any State, 
United States district courts for the Territories of Arizona, 
New Mexico, Oklahoma, Hawaii, and Alaska, the supreme 


44 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


court of the District of Columbia, and the United States courts 
for the Indian Territory; also all courts of record in any 
State or Territory now existing, or which may hereafter be 
created, having a seal, a clerk, and jurisdiction in actions at 
law or equity, or law and equity, in which the amount in 
controversy is unlimited. 

That the naturalization jurisdiction of all courts herein 
specified—State, Territorial, and Federal—shall extend only 
to aliens resident within the respective judicial districts of 
such courts. 

* ♦ ♦ * * 4= 

Sec. 4. That an alien may be admitted to become a citizen 
of the United States in the following manner and not other¬ 
wise : 

First. He shall declare on oath before the clerk of any 
court authorized by this act to naturalize aliens, or his author¬ 
ized deputy, in the district in which such alien resides, two 
years at least prior to his admission, and after he has reached 
the age of eighteen years, that it is bona fide his intention to 
become a citizen of the United States and to renounce forever 
all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, 
or sovereignty, and particularly, by name, to the prince, 
potentate, state, or sovereignty of which the alien may be at 
the time a citizen or subject. And such declaration shall set 
forth the name, age, occupation, personal description, place 
of birth, last foreign residence and allegiance, the date of 
arrival, the name of the vessel, if any, in which he came to the 
United States, and the present place of residence in the United 
States of said alien: Provided, however, That no alien who, 
in conformity with the law in force at the date of his declara¬ 
tion, has declared his intention to become a citizen of the 
United States shall -be required to renew such declaration. 

Second. Not less than two years nor more than seven years 
after he has made such declaration of intention he shall make 
and file, in duplicate, a petition in writing, signed by the 
applicant in his own handwriting and duly verified, in which 
petition such applicant shall state his full name, his place of 
residence (by street and number, if possible), his occupation, 
and, if possible, the date and place of his birth; the place 
from which he emigrated, and the date and place of his 


NATURALIZATION LAWS. 


45 


arrival in the United States, and, if he entered through a 
port, the name of the vessel on which he arrived; the time 
when and the place and name of the court where he'declared 
his intention to become a citizen of the United States; if 
he is married he shall state the name of his wife and, if 
possible, the country of her nativity and her place of residence 
at the time of filing his petition; and if he has children, the 
name, date, and place of birth and place of residence of each 
child living at the time of the filing of his petition: Provided, 
That if he has filed his declaration before the passage of this 
act he shall not be required to sign the petition in his own 
handwriting. 

The petition shall set forth that he is not a disbeliever in 
or opposed to organized government, or a member of or 
affiliated with any organization or body of persons teaching 
disbelief in or opposed to organized government, a polygamist 
or believes in the practice of polygamy, and that it is his inten¬ 
tion to become a citizen of the United States and to renounce 
absolutely and forever all allegiance and fidelity to any for¬ 
eign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, and particularly 
by name to the prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of 
which he at the time of filing of his petition may be a citizen 
or subject, and that it is his intention to reside permanently 
within the United States, and whether or not he has been 
denied admission as a citizen of the United States, and, if 
denied, the ground or grounds of such denial, the court or 
courts in which such decision was rendered, and that the cause 
for such denial has since been cured or removed, and every 
fact material to his naturalization and required to be proved 
upon the final hearing of his application. 

The petition ^lall also be verified by the affidavits of at least 
two credible witnesses, who are citizens of the United States, 
and who shall state in their affidavits that they have personally 
known the applicant to be a resident of the United States for 
a period of at least five years continuously, and of the State, 
Territory, or the District of Columbia, in which the applica¬ 
tion is made for a period of at least one year immediately 
preceding the date of the filing of his petition, and that they 
each have personal knowledge that the petitioner is a person 
of good moral character, and that he is in every way qualified, 


46 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


in their opinion, to be admitted as a citizen of the United 
States. 

At the time of filing his petition there shall be filed with 
the clerk of the court a certificate from the Department of 
Labor, if the petitioner arrives in the United States after 
the passage of this act, stating the date, place, and manner 
of his arrival in the United States, and the declaration of 
intention of such petitioner, which certificate and declaration 
shall be attached to and made a part of said petition. 

Third. He shall, before he is admitted to citizenship, de¬ 
clare on oath in open court that he will support the Constitu¬ 
tion of the United States, and that he absolutely and entirely 
renounces and adjures all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign 
prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, and particularly by 
name to the prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of which he 
was before a citizen or subject; that he will support and 
defend the Constitution and laws of the United States against 
all enemies, foreign and domestic, and bear true faith and 
allegiance to the same. 

Fourth. It shall be made to appear to the satisfaction of 
the court admitting any alien to citizenship that immediately 
preceding the date of his application he has resided con¬ 
tinuously within the United States five years at least, and 
within the State or Territory where such court is at the 
time held one year at least, and that during that time he has 
behaved as a man of good moral character, attached to the 
principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well 
disposed to the good order and happiness of the same. In 
addition to the oath of the applicant, the testimony of at least 
two witnesses, citizens of the United States^ as to the facts 
of residence, moral character, and attachment to the principles 
of the Constitution shall be required, and the name, place of 
residence, and occupation of each witness shall be set forth 
in the record. 

Fifth. In case the alien applying to be admitted to citizen¬ 
ship has borne any hereditary title, or has been of any of the 
orders of nobility in the kingdom or state from which he 
came, he shall, in addition to the above requisite, make an 
express renunciation of his title or order of nobility in the 


NATURALIZATION LAWS. 


47 


court to which his application is made, and his renunciation 
shall be recorded in the court. 

Sixth. When any alien who has declared his intention to 
become a citizen of the United States dies before he is 
actually naturalized the widow and minor children of. such 
alien, may, by complying with the other provision of this act, 
be naturalized without making any declaration of intention. 

Seventh. Any native-born Filipino of the age of twenty- 
one years and upward who has declared his intention to be¬ 
come a citizen of the United States and who has enlisted or 
may hereafter enlist in the United States Navy or Marine 
Corps or the Naval Auxiliary Service, and who, after service 
of not less than three years, may be honorably discharged 
therefrom, or who may receive an ordinary discharge with 
recommendation for reenlistment; or any alien, or any Porto 
Rican not a citizen of the United States, of the age of twenty- 
one years and upward, who has enlisted or entered or may 
hereafter enlist in or enter the armies of the United States, 
either the Regular or the Volunteer Forces, or the National 
Army, the National Guard or Naval Militia of any State, 
Territory, or the District of Columbia, or the State Militia 
in Federal service, or in the United States Navy or Marine 
Corps, or in the United States Coast Guard, or who has 
served for three years on board of any vessel of the United 
States Government, or for three years on board of merchant 
or fishing vessels of the United States of more than twenty 
tons burden, and while still in the service on a reenlistment 
or reappointment, or within six months after an honorable 
discharge or separation therefrom, or while on furlough to 
the Army Reserve or Regular Army Reserve after hon¬ 
orable service, may, on presentation of the required declara¬ 
tion of intention, petition for naturalization without proof 
of the required five years’ residence within the United 
States if upon examination by the representative of the 
Bureau of Naturalization, in accordance with the require¬ 
ments of this subdivision it is shown that such residence 
can not be established; any alien serving in the military or 
naval service of the United States during the time this country 
is engaged in the present war may file his petition for natural- 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


ization without making the preliminary declaration of inten-. 
tion and without proof of the required five years’ residence 
within the United States; any alien declarant who has served 
in the United States Army or Navy, or the Philippine Con¬ 
stabulary, and has been honorably discharged therefrom, and 
has been accepted for service in either the military or naval 
service of the United States on the condition that he becomes 
a citizen of the United States, may file his petition for 
naturalization upon proof of continuous residence within the 
United States for the three years immediately preceding his 
petition, by two witnesses, citizens of the United States, and 
in these cases only residence in the Philippine Islands and the 
Panama Canal Zone by aliens may be considered residence 
within the United States, and the place of such military ser¬ 
vice shall be construed as the place of residence required to 
be established for purposes of naturalization; and any alien, 
or any. person owing permanent allegiance to the United 
States embraced within this subdivision, may file his petition 
for naturalization in the most convenient court without proof 
of residence within its jurisdiction, notwithstanding the limita¬ 
tion upon the jurisdiction of the courts specified in section 
three of the act of June twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and 
six, provided he appears with his two witnesses before the 
appropriate representative of the Bureau of Naturalization 
and passes the preliminary examination hereby required before 
filing his petition for naturalization in the office of the clerk 
of the court, and in each case the record of this examination 
shall be offered in evidence by the representative of the Gov¬ 
ernment from the Bureau of Naturalization and made a part 
of the record at the original and any subsequent hearings ; and, 
except as otherwise herein provided, the honorable discharge 
certificate of such alien, or person owing permanent allegiance 
to the United States, or the certificate of service showing 
good conduct, signed by a duly authorized officer, or by the 
masters of said vessels, shall be deemed prima facie evidence 
to satisfy all of the requirements of residence within the United 
States and within the State, Territory, or the District of 
Columbia, and good moral character required by law, when 
supported by the affidavits of two witnesses, citizens of the 
United States, identifying the applicant as the person named 


NATURALIZATION LAWS. 


49 


in the certificate or honorable discharge, and in those cases 
only where the alien is actually in the military or naval service 
of the United States, the certificate of arrival shall not -be 
filed with the petition for naturalization in the manner pre¬ 
scribed ; and’ any petition for naturalization filed under the 
provisions of this subdivision may be heard immediately, not¬ 
withstanding the law prohibits the hearing of a petition for 
naturalization during thirty days preceding any election in the 
jurisdiction of the court. Any alien who, at the time of the 
passage of this act, is in the military service of the United 
States, who may not be within the jurisdiction of any court 
authorized to naturalize aliens, m^y file his petition for 
naturalization without appearing in person in the office of the 
clerk of the court and shall not be required to take the pre¬ 
scribed oath of allegiance in open court. The petition shall 
be verified by the affidavits of at least two credible witnesses 
who are citizens of the United States, and who shall prove 
in their affidavits the portion of the residence that they have 
personally known the applicant to have resided within the 
United States. The time of military service may be estab¬ 
lished by the affidavits of at least two other citizens of the 
United States, which together with the oath of allegiance, 
may be taken in accordance with the terms of section seven¬ 
teen hundred and fifty of the Revised Statutes of the United 
States after notice from and under regulations of the Bureau 
of Naturalization. Such affidavits and oath of allegiance shall 
be admitted in evidence in any original or appellate naturaliza¬ 
tion proceeding without proof of the genuineness of the seal 
or signature or of the official character of the officer before 
whom the affidavits and oath of allegiance were taken, and 
shall be filed by the representative of the Government from 
the Bureau of Naturalization at the hearing as provided by 
section eleven of the'act of June twenty-ninth, nineteen hun¬ 
dred and six. Members of the Naturalization Bureau and 
Service may be designated by the Secretary of Labor to ad¬ 
minister oaths relating to the administration of the naturaliza¬ 
tion law; and the requirement of section ten of notice to 
take depositions to the United States attorneys is repealed, 
and the duty they perform under section fifteen of the act 
of June twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and six (Thirty- 


50 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


fourth Statutes at Large, part one, page five hundred and 
ninety-six), may also be performed by the Commissioner or 
Deputy Commissioner of Naturalization: Provided, That it 
shall not be lawful to make a declaration of intention before 
the clerk of any court on election day or during the period 
of thirty days preceding the day of holding any election in the 
jurisdiction of the court: Provided further. That service by 
aliens upon vessels other than of American registry, whether 
continuous or broken, shall not be considered as residence 
for naturalization purposes within the jurisdiction of the 
United States, and such aliens can not secure residence for 
naturalization purposes during service upon vessels of foreign 
registry. 

During the time when the United States is at war no clerk 
of a United States court shall charge or collect a naturaliza¬ 
tion fee from an alien in the military service of the United 
States for filing his petition or issuing the certificate of 
naturalization upon admission to citizenship, and no clerk 
of any State court shall charge or collect any fee for this 
service unless the laws^of the State require such charge to be 
made, in which case nothing more than the portion of the fee 
required to be paid to the State shall be charged or collected. 
A full accounting for all of these transactions shall be made 
to the Bureau of Naturalization in the manner provided by 
section thirteen of the act of June twenty-ninth, nineteen 
hundred and six. 

Eighth. That every seaman, being an alien, shall, after his 
declaration of intention to become a citizen of the United 
States, and after he shall have served three years upon such 
merchant or fishing vessels of the United States, be deemed a 
citizen of the United States for the purpose of serving on board 
any such merchant or fishing vessel of the United States, 
anything to the contrary in any act of Congress notwithstand¬ 
ing; but such seaman shall, for all purposes of protection 
as an American citizen, be deemed such after the filing of his 
declaration of intention to become such citizen: Provided, 
That nothing contained in this act shall be taken or construed 
to repeal or modify any portion of the act approved March 
fourth, nineteen hundred and fifteen (Thirty-eighth Statutes 
at Large, part one, page eleven hundred and sixty-four. 


y 


NATURALIZATION LAWS, 


5 


chapter one hundred and fifty-three), being an act to promote 
the welfare of American seamen. 

Ninth. That for the purpose of carrying on the work of 
the Bureau of Naturalization of sending the names of the 
candidates for citizenship to the public schools and otherwise 
promoting instruction and training in citizenship responsbili- 
ties of applicants for naturalization, as provided in this sub¬ 
division, authority is hereby given for the reimbursement of 
the printing and binding appropriation of the Department of 
Labor upon the records of the Treasury Department from the 
naturalization fees deposited in the Treasury through the 
Bureau of Naturalization for the cost of publishing the citizen¬ 
ship textbook prepared and to be distributed by the Bureau 
of Naturalization to those candidates for citizenship only who 
are in attendance upon the public schools, such reimbursement 
to be made upon statements by the Commissioner of Natu¬ 
ralization of books actually delivered to such student candi¬ 
dates for citizenship, and a monthly naturalization bulletin, 
and in this duty to secure the aid of and cooperate with the 
official State and national organizations, including those con¬ 
cerned with vocational education and including personal ser¬ 
vices in the District of Columbia, and to aid the local Army 
exemption boards and cooperate with the War Department in 
locating declarants subject to the Army draft and expenses 
incidental thereto. 

Tenth. That any person not an alien enemy, who resided 
uninterruptedly within the United States during the period of 
five years next preceding July first, nineteen hundred and 
fourteen, and was on that date otherwise qualified to become 
a citizen of the United States, except that he had not made 
the declaration of intention required by law, and who during 
or prior to that time, because of misinformation regarding 
his citizenship status, erroneously exercised the rights and 
performed the duties of a citizen of the United States in good 
faith, may file the petition for naturalization prescribed by 
law without making the preliminary declaration of intention 
required of other aliens, and upon satisfactory proof to the 
court that he has so acted may be admitted as a citizen of 
the United States upon complying in all respects with the other 
requirements of the naturalization law. 


52 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


Eleventh. No alien who is a native, citizen, subject, or 
denizen of any country. State, or sovereignty with which the 
United States is at war shall be admitted to become a citizen 
of the United States unless he made his declaration of inten¬ 
tion not less than two nor more than seven years prior to the 
existence of the state of war, or was at that time entitled to 
become a citizen of the United States, without making a 
declaration of intention, or unless his petition for naturaliza¬ 
tion shall then be pending and is otherwise entitled to admis¬ 
sion, notwithstanding he shall be an alien enemy at the time 
and in the manner prescribed by the laws passed upon that 
subject: Provided, That no alien embraced within this sub¬ 
division shall have his petition for naturalization calling for 
a hearing, or heard, except after ninety days’ notice given 
by the clerk of the court to the Commissioner or Deputy 
Commissioner of Naturalization to be present, and the petition 
shall be given no final hearing except in open court and after 
such notice to the representative of the Government from 
the Bureau of Naturalization, whose objection shall cause the 
petition to be continued from time to time for so long as the 
Government may require: Provided, however, That nothing 
herein contained shall be taken or construed to interfere with 
or prevent the apprehension and removal, agreeably to law, 
of any alien enemy at any time previous to the actual natu¬ 
ralization of such alien; and section twenty-one hundred and 
seventy-one of the Revised Statutes of the United States is 
hereby repealed: Provided further. That the President of the 
United States may, in his discretion, upon investigation and 
report by the Department of Justice fully establishing the 
loyalty of any alien enemy not included in the foregoing ex¬ 
emption, except such alien enemy from the classification of 
alien enemy, and thereupon he shall have the privilege of 
applying for naturalization; and for the purposes of carrying 
into effect the provisions of this section, including personal 
services in the District of Columbia, the sum of $400,000 is 
hereby appropriated, to be available until June thirtieth, nine¬ 
teen hundred and nineteen, including travel expenses for 
members of the Bureau of Naturalization and its field service 
only, and the provisions of section thirty-six hundred and 


NATURALIZATION LAWS. 


53 


seventy-nine of the Revised Statutes shall not be applicable 
in any way to this appropriation. 

Twelfth. That any person who, while a citizen of the 
United States and during the existing war in Europe, entered 
the military or naval service of any country at war with a 
country with which the United States is now at war, who 
shall be deemed to have lost his citizenship by reason of any 
oath or obligation taken by him for the purpose of entering 
such service, may resume his citizenship by taking the oath 
of allegiance to the United States prescribed by the naturaliza¬ 
tion law and regulations, and such oath may be taken before 
any court of the United States or of any State authorized by 
law to naturalize aliens or before any consul of the United 
States, and certified copies thereof shall be sent by such court 
or consul to the Department of State and the Bureau of Natu¬ 
ralization, and the act (Public fifty-five, Sixty-(ifth Congress, 
approved October fifth, nineteen hundred and seventeen) is 
hereby repealed. 

Thirteenth. That any person who is serving in the military 
or naval forces of the United States at the termination of the 
existing war, and any person who before the termination of 
the existing war may have been honorably discharged from 
the military or naval services of the United States on account 
of disability incurred in line of duty, shall, if he applies to 
the proper court for admission as a citizen of the United 
States, be relieved from the necessity of proving that imme¬ 
diately preceding the date of his application he has resided 
continuously within the United States the time required by 
law of other aliens, or within the State, Territory, or the 
District of Columbia for the year immediately preceding the 
date of his petition for naturalization, but his petition for 
naturalization shall be supported by the affidavits of two 
credible witnesses, citizens of the United States, identifying 
the petitioner as the person named in the certificate of honor¬ 
able discharge, which said certificate may be accepted as evi¬ 
dence of good moral character required by law, and he shall 
comply with the other requirements of the naturalization law. 

Sec. 5. That the clerk of the court shall, immediately after 
filing the petition, give notice thereof by posting in a public 


54 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


and conspicuous place in his office, or in the building in which 
his office is situated, under an appropriate heading, the name, 
nativity, and residence of the alien, the date and place of his 
arrival in the United States, and the date, as nearly as may 
be, for the final hearing of his petition, and the names of the 
witnesses whom the applicant expects to summon in his behalf; 
and the clerk shall, if the applicant requests it, issue a subpoena 
for the witnesses so named by the said applicant to appear 
upon the day set for the final hearing, but in case such wit¬ 
nesses can not be produced upon the final hearing other 
witnesses may be summoned.* 

Sec. 6. That petitions for naturalization may be made and 
filed during term time or vacation of the court and shall be 
docketed the same day as filed, but final action thereon shall 
be had only on stated days, to be fixed by rule of the court, 
and in no case, shall final action be had upon a petition until 
at least ninety days have elapsed after filing and posting the 
notice of such petition: Provided, That no person shall be 
naturalized nor shall any certificate of naturalization be issued 
by any court within thirty days preceding the holding of any 
general election within its territorial jurisdiction. It shall be 
lawful at the time and as a part of the naturalization of any 
alien, for the court, in its discretion, upon the petition of such 
alien, to make a decree changing the name of said alien, and 
his certificate of naturalization shall be issued to him in 
accordance therewith. 

Sec. 7. That no person who disbelieves in or who is opposed 
to organized government, or who is a member of or affiliated 
with any organization entertaining and teaching such dis¬ 
belief in or opposition to organized government, or who ad¬ 
vocates or teaches the duty, necessity, or propriety of the 
unlawful assaulting or killing of any officer or officers, either 
of specific individuals or of officers generally, of the Govern¬ 
ment of the United States, or of any other organized gov¬ 
ernment, because of his or their official character, or who 
is a polygamist, shall be naturalized or be made a citizen of the 
United States. 

Sec. 8. That no alien shall hereafter be naturalized or ad¬ 
mitted as a citizen of the United States who can not speak 
the English language: Provided, That this requirement shall 


NATURALIZATION LAWS. 


55 


not apply to aliens who are physically unable to comply there¬ 
with, if they are otherwise qualified to become citizens of the 
United States: And provided further. That the requirements 
of this section shall not apply to any alien who has prior to 
the passage of this act declared his intention to become a 
citizen of the United States in conformity with the law in 
force at the date of making such declaration: Provided 
further. That the requirements of section eight shall not apply 
to aliens who shall hereafter declare their intention to become 
citizens and who shall make homestead entries upon the public 
lands of the United States and comply in all respects with 
the laws providing for homestead entries on such lands. 

Sec. 9. That every final hearing upon such petition shall 
be had in open court before a judge or judges thereof, and 
every final order which may be made upon such petition shall 
be under the hand of the court and entered in full upon a 
record kept for that purpose, and upon such final hearing of 
such petition the applicant and witnesses shall be examined 
under oath before the court and in the presence of the court. 

Sec. 10. That in case the petitioner has not resided in the 
State, Territory, or the District of Columbia for a period of 
five years continuously and immediately preceding the filing 
of his petition he may establish by two witnesses, both in his 
petition and at the hearing, the time of his residence within 
the State, provided that it has been for more than one year, 
and the remaining portion of his five years’ residence within 
the United States required by law to be established may be 
proved by the depositions of two or more witnesses who are 
citizens of the United States, upon notice to the Bureau of 
Naturalization. 

Sec. II. That the United States shall have the right to 
appear before any court or courts exercising jurisdiction in 
naturalization proceedings for the purpose of cross-examining 
the petitioner and the witnesses produced in support of his 
petition concerning any matter touching or in any way affect¬ 
ing his right to admission to citizenship, and shall have the 
right to call witnesses, produce evidence, and be heard in 
opposition to the granting of any petition in naturalization 
proceedings. 

Sec. 12. That it is hereby made the duty of the clerk of 


56 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


each and every court exercising jurisdiction in naturalization 
matters under the provisions of this act to keep and file a 
duplicate of each declaration of intention made before him 
and to send to the Bureau of Naturalization at Washington, 
within thirty days after the issuance of a certificate of citizen¬ 
ship, a duplicate of such certificate, and to make and keep on 
file in his office a stub for each certificate so issued by him, 
whereon shall be entered a memorandum of all the essential 
facts set forth in such certificate. It shall also be the duty 
of the clerk of each of said courts to report to the said 
bureau, within thirty days after the final hearing and decision 
of the court, the name of each and every alien who shall be 
denied naturalization, and to furnish to said bureau duplicates 
of all petitions within thirty days after the filing of the same, 
and certified copies of such other proceedings and orders 
instituted in or issued out of said court affecting or relating 
to the naturalization of aliens as may be required from time 
to time by the said bureau. 

In case any such clerk or officer acting under his direction 
shall refuse or neglect to comply with any of the foregoing 
provisions he shall forfeit and pay to the United States the 
sum of twenty-five dollars in each and every case in which 
such violation or omission occurs, and the amount of such 
forfeiture may be recovered by the United States in an action 
of debt against such clerk. 

Clerks of courts having and exercising jurisdiction in natu¬ 
ralization matters shall be responsible for all blank certifi¬ 
cates of citizenship received by them from time to time from 
the Bureau of Naturalization, and shall account for the same 
to the said bureau whenever required so to do by such bureau. 
No certificate of citizenship received by any such clerk which 
may be defaced or injured in such manner as to prevent its 
use as herein provided shall in any case be destroyed, but 
such certificate shall be returned to the said bureau; and in 
case any such clerk shall fail to return or properly account 
for any certificate furnished by the said bureau, as herein 
provided, he shall be liable to the United States in the sum of 
fifty dollars, to be recovered in an action of debt, for each 
and every certificate not properly accounted for or returned. 

Sec. 13. That the clerk of each and every court exercising 


NATURALIZATION LAWS. 


57 


jurisdiction in naturalization cases shall charge, collect, and 
account for the following fees in each proceeding: 

For receiving and filing a declaration of intention and 
issuing a duplicate thereof, one dollar. 

For making, filing, and docketing the petition of an alien 
for admission as a citizen of the United States and for the 
final hearing thereon, two dollars; and for entering the final 
order and the issuance of the certificate of citizenship there¬ 
under, if granted, two dollars. 

The clerk of any court collecting such fees is hereby author¬ 
ized to retain one-half of the fees collected by him in such 
naturalization proceeding; the remaining one-half of the 
naturalization fees in each case collected by such clerks, re¬ 
spectively, shall be accounted for in their quarterly accounts, 
which they are hereby required to render the Bureau of Natu¬ 
ralization, and paid over to such bureau within thirty days 
from the close of each quarter in each and every fiscal year, 
and the moneys so received shall be paid over to the dis¬ 
bursing clerk of the Department of Labor, who shall there¬ 
upon deposit them in the Treasury of the United States, 
rendering an account therefor quarterly to the Auditor for 
the State and Other Departments, and the said disbursing 
clerk shall be‘held responsible under his bond for said fees 
so received. 

In addition to the fees herein required, the petitioner shall, 
upon the filing of his petition to become a citizen of the United 
States, deposit with and pay to the clerk of the court a sum 
of money sufficient to cover the expenses of subpoenaing and 
paying the legal fees of any witnesses for whom he may re¬ 
quest a subpoena, and upon the final discharge of such wit¬ 
nesses they shall receive, if they demand the same from the 
clerk, the customary and usual witness fees from the moneys 
which the petitioner shall have paid to such clerk for such 
purpose, and the residue, if any, shall be returned by the clerk 
to the petitioner: * * * 

J|£ * * * * * 

Sec. 15. That it shall be the duty of the United States 
district attorneys for the respective districts, upon affidavit 
showing good cause therefor, to institute proceedings in any 
court having jurisdiction to naturalize aliens in the judicial 


58 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


district in which the naturalized citizen may reside at the time 
of bringing the suit, for the purpose of setting aside and 
canceling the certificate of citizenship on the ground of fraud 
or on the ground that such certificate of citizenship was ille¬ 
gally procured. In any such proceedings the party holding the 
certificate of citizenship alleged to have been fraudulently 
or illegally procured shall have sixty days personal notice in 
which to make answer to the petition of the United States; 
and if the holder of such certificate be absent from the United 
States or from the district in which he last had his residence, 
such notice shall be given by publication in the manner pro¬ 
vided for the service of summons by publication or upon 
absentees by the laws of the State or the place where such suit 
is brought. 

If any alien who shall have secured a certificate of citizen¬ 
ship under the provisions of this act shall, within five years 
after the issuance of such certificate, return to the country of 
his nativity, or go to any other foreign country, and take 
permanent residence therein, it shall be considered prima 
facie evidence of a lack of intention on the part of such alien 
to become a permanent citizen of the United States at the time 
of filing his application for citizenship, and, in the absence 
of countervailing evidence, it shall be sufficient in the proper 
proceeding to authorize the cancellation of his certificate of 
citizenship as fraudulent, and the diplomatic and consular 
officers of the United States in foreign countries shall from 
time to time, through the Department of State, furnish the 
Department of Justice with the names of those within their 
respective jurisdictions who have such certificates of citizen¬ 
ship and who have taken permanent residence in the country 
of their nativity, or in any other foreign country, and such 
statements, duly certified, shall be admissible in evidence in 
all courts in proceedings to cancel certificates of citizenship. 

Whenever any certificate of citizenship shall be set aside or 
canceled, as herein provided, the court in which such judgment 
or decree is rendered shall make an order canceling such 
certificate of citizenship and shall send a certified copy of 
such order to the Bureau of Naturalization; and in case such 
certificate was not originally issued by the court making such 
order it shall direct the clerk of the court to transmit a copy 


NATURALIZATION LAWS. 


59 


of such order and judgment to the court out of which such 
certificate of citizenship shall have been originally issued. And 
it shall thereupon be the duty of the clerk of the court receiv¬ 
ing such certified copy of the order and judgment of the 
court to enter the same of record and to cancel such original 
certificate of citizenship upon the records and to notify the 
.Bureau of Naturalization of such cancellation. 

The provisions of this section shall apply not only to certifi¬ 
cates of citizenship issued under the provisions of this act, 
but to all certificates of citizenship which may have been issued 
heretofore by any court exercising jurisdiction in naturaliza¬ 
tion proceedings under prior laws. 

Sec. i6. [Superseded by act of Mar. 4, 1909. See sec. 74, 
p. 64.] 

Sec. 17. [Superseded by act of Mar. 4, 1909. See sec. 75, 

p. 64.] 

Sec. 18. That it is hereby made a felony for any clerk or 
other person to issue or be a party to the issuance of a certifi¬ 
cate of citizenship contrary to the provisions of this act, ex¬ 
cept upon a final order under the hand of a court having 
jurisdiction to make such order, and upon conviction thereof 
such clerk or other person shall be punished by imprisonment 
for not more than five years and by a fine of not more than 
five thousand dollars, in the discretion of the court. 

Sec. 19. [Superseded by act of Mar. 4, 1909. See sec. 77, 
P. 65.] 

Sec. 20. That any clerk or other officer of a court having 
power under this act to naturalize aliens, who willfully neglects 
to render true accounts of moneys received by him for natu¬ 
ralization proceedings or who willfully neglects to pay over 
any balance of such moneys due to the United States within 
thirty days after said payment shall become due and demand 
therefor has been made and refused, shall be deemed guilty of 
embezzlement of the public moneys, and shall be punishable 
by imprisonment for not more than five years, or by a fine of 
not more than five thousand dollars, or both. 

Sec. 21. That it shall be unlawful for any clerk of any 
court or his authorized deputy or assistant exercising juris¬ 
diction in naturalization proceedings to demand, charge, col¬ 
lect, or receive any other or additional fees or moneys in 





6o 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


naturalization proceedings save the fees and moneys herein 
specified; and a violation of any of the provisions of this 
section or any part thereof is hereby declared to be a misde¬ 
meanor and shall be punished by imprisonment for not more 
than two years, or by a fine of not more than one thousand 
dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment. . 

Sec. 22. That the clerk of any court exercising jurisdiction# 
in naturalization proceedings, or any person acting under 
authority of this act, who shall knowingly certify that a peti¬ 
tioner, affiant, or witness named in an affidavit, petition, or 
certificate of citizenship, or other paper or waiting required 
to be executed under the provisions of this act, personally 
appeared before him and was sworn thereto, or acknowledged 
the execution thereof or signed the same, when in fact such 
petitioner, affiant, or witness did not personally appear before 
him, or was not sworn thereto, or did not execute the same, 
or did not acknowledge the execution thereof, shall be pun¬ 
ished by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, or by 
imprisonment not to exceed five years. 

Sec. 23. That any person who knowingly procures natu¬ 
ralization in violation of the provisions of this act shall be 
fined not more than five thousand dollars, or shall be impris¬ 
oned not more than five years, or both, and upon conviction 
the court in which such conviction is had shall thereupon 
adjudge and declare the final order admitting such person to 
citizenship void. Jurisdiction is hereby conferred on the 
courts having jurisdiction of the trial of such offense to 
\ make such adjudication. Any person who knowingly aids, 
advises, or encourages any person not entitled thereto to 
apply for or to secure naturalization, or to file the prelim¬ 
inary papers declaring an intent to become a citizen of the 
United States, or who in any naturalization proceeding know¬ 
ingly procures or gives false testimony as to any material fact, 
or who knowingly makes an affidavit false as to any material 
fact required to be proved in such proceeding, shall be fined 
not more than five thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more 
than five years, or both. 

Sec. 24. That no person shall be prosecuted, tried, or pun¬ 
ished for any crime arising under the provisions of this act 
unless the indictment is found or the information is filed 
within five years next after the commission of such crime. 


NATURALIZATION LAWS. 


6l 

Sec. 25. That for the purpose of the prosecution of all 
crimes and offenses against the naturalization laws of the 
United States which may have been committed prior to the 
date when this act shall go into effect, the existing naturaliza¬ 
tion laws shall remain in full force and effect. 

****** 

Sec. 30. That all the applicable provisions of the naturaliza¬ 
tion laws of the United States shall apply to and be held to 
authorize the admission to citizenship of all persons not citi¬ 
zens who owe permanent allegiance to the United States, and 
who may become residents of any State or organized Terri¬ 
tory of the United States, with the following modifications: 
The applicant shall not be required to renounce allegiance 
to any foreign sovereignty; he shall make his declaration of 
intention to become a citizen of the United States at least 
two years prior to his admission; and residence within the 
jurisdiction of the United States, owing such permanent al¬ 
legiance, shall be regarded as residence within the United 
States within the meaning of the five years’ residence clause 
of the existing law. 

Sec. 31. That this act shall take effect and be in force from 
and after ninety days from the date of its passage: Provided, 
That sections one, two, twenty-eight, and twenty-nine shall go 
into effect from and after the passage of this act. 

Approved, June 29, 1906. 

Naturalization Limited to White Persons and Those of ^ 
THE African Race. 

[Act of February 18, 1875, amending act of July 14, 1870.] 

Sec. 2169. The provisions of this title shall apply to aliens 
being free white persons; and to aliens of African nativity 
and to persons of African descent. (R. S. 1878, p. 380; i 
Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 1333 -) 

Naturalization of Chinese Prohibited. 

[Act of May 6, 1882.] 

Sec. 14. That hereafter no State court or court of the 
United States shall admit Chinese to citizenship; and all laws 
in conflict with this act are hereby repealed. (22 Stat. L. 
p. 61.) 


62 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


Residence Within the United States Required for Five 
Years Continuously. 

[Act of March 3, 1813.] 

[The United States Circuit Court of Appeals has held that sec. 2170 was 
not repealed by the naturalization act of June 29, 1906. (See United 
States V. Rodiek, 162 Fed., 469-)] 

Sec. 2170. No alien shall be admitted to become a citizen 
who has not for the continued term of five years next pre¬ 
ceding his admission resided within the United States. (R. S. 
1878, p. 380; I Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 1333 -) 

Naturalization of Declarants Who have Served in the 
Naval Reserve Force in Time of War. 

[Act of May 22, 1917.] 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That 
the Act entitled “An Act making appropriations for the naval 
service for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen 
hundred and seventeen, and for other purposes,” approved 
August twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and sixteen, be, and 
the same is hereby, amended by adding after the proviso 
under the heading “Naval Reserve Force,” which reads as 
follows: “Provided, That citizens of the insular possessions 
of the United States may enroll in the Naval Auxiliary Re¬ 
serve,” a further proviso as follows: Provided further. That 
such persons who are not citizens of the United States, but 
who have or shall have declared their intention to become 
citizens of the United States, and who are citizens of coun¬ 
tries which are at peace with the United States, may enroll 
in the Naval Reserve Force subject to the condition that they 
may be discharged from such enrollment at any time within 
the discretion of the Secretary of the Navy, and such persons 
who may, under existing law, become citizens of the United 
States, and who render honorable service in the Naval 
Reserve Force in time of war for a period of not less than 
one year, may become citizens of the United States without 
proof of residence on shore and without further requirement 
than proof of good moral character and certificate from the 


NATURALIZATION LAWS. 


63 


Secretary of the Navy that such honorable service was 
actually rendered. (Public Laws, 65th Cong, ist Sess., 1917, 
p. 84.) 

Providing for Naturalization of Wife and Minor Children 

OF Insane Aliens Making Homestead Entries Under 

Land Laws of the United States. 

[Act of February 24, 19ii.] 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That 
when any alien, who has declared his intention to become a 
citizen of the United States, becomes insane before he is 
actually naturalized, and his wife shall thereafter make a 
homestead entry under the land laws of the United States, 
she and their minor children may, by complying with the 
other provisions of the naturalization laws, be naturalized 
without making any declaration of intention. (36 Stat. L., 
pt. I, p. 929.) 

Naturalization of Deserters or Persons Who Go Abroad 
TO Avoid Draft Prohibited. 

[Act of August 22 , 1912.] 

Sec. 3954. [Amending Sec. 1998, U. S. R. S.] Every 
person who hereafter deserts the military or naval service 
of the United States, or who, being duly enrolled, departs 
the jurisdiction of the district in which he is enrolled, or goes 
beyond the limits of the United States, with intent to avoid 
any draft into the military or naval service, lawfully ordered, 
shall be liable to all the penalties and forfeitures of section 
1996 of the Revised Statutes: Provided, That the provisions 
of this section and said section 1996 [infra'] shall not apply 
to any person hereafter deserting the military or naval service 
of the United States in time of peace * * (4 Comp. 

Stat. 1916, p. 4828.) 

[Act of March 3, 1865.] 

Sec. 1996. All persons who deserted the military or naval 
service of the United States and did not return thereto or 


64 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


report themselves to a provost marshal within sixty days 
after the issuance of the proclamation by the President, dated 
the nth day of March, 1865, are deemed to have voluntarily 
relinquished and forfeited their rights of citizenship, as well 
as their right to become citizens; and such deserters shall 
be forever incapable of holding any office of trust or profit 
under the United States, or of exercising any rights of citi¬ 
zens thereof. (R. S. 1878, p. 350; i Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 1269.) 

Validating Certain Certificates of Naturalization Where 
Declarations were Filed Prior to September 27, 1906. 

[Act of May 9, 1918.] 

Sec. 3. That all certificates of naturalization granted by 
courts of competent jurisdiction prior to December thirty- 
first, nineteen hundred and eighteen, upon petitions for natu¬ 
ralization filed prior to January thirty-first, nineteen hundred 
and eighteen, upon declarations of intention filed prior to 
September twenty-seventh, nineteen hundred and six, are 
hereby declared to be valid in so far as the declaration of 
intention is concerned, but shall not be by this act further 
validated or legalized. 

An Act to Codify, Revise, and Amend the Penal Laws 
OF THE United States. 

[Act of March 4, 1909.] 

[The following sections repealed secs. 16, 17, and 19 of the act of 
June 29, 1906.] 

Sec. 74. Whoever shall falsely make, forge, or counterfeit, 
or cause or procure to be falsely made, forged, or counter¬ 
feited, or shall knowingly aid or assist in falsely making, 
forging, or counterfeiting any certificate of citizenship, with 
intent to use the same, or with the intent that the same may 
be used by some other person, shall be fined not more than 
ten thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than ten years, 
or both. 

Sec. 75. Whoever shall engrave, or cause or procure to be 
engraved, or assist in engraving, any plate in the likeness of 
any plate designed for the printing of a certificate of citizen- 


NATURALIZATION I.AWS. 


65 


ship; or whoever shall sell any such plate, or shall bring ipto 
the United States from any foreign place any such plate, ex¬ 
cept under the direction of the Secretary of Labor or other 
proper officer; or whoever shall have in his control, custody, 
or possession any metallic plate engraved after the similitude 
of any plate from which any such certificate has been printed, 
with intent to use or to suffer such plate to be used in forging 
or counterfeiting any such certificate or any part thereof; 
or whoever shall print, photograph, or in any manner cause 
to be printed, photographed, made, or executed any print or 
impression in the likeness of any such certificate, or any part 
thereof; or whoever shall sell any such certificate, or shall 
bring the same into the United States from any foreign place, 
except by direction of some proper officer of the United 
States; or whoever shall have in his possession a distinctive 
paper -vyhich has been adopted by the proper officer of the 
United States for the printing of such certificate, with intent 
unlawfully to use the same, shall be fined not more than ten 
thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than ten years, or 
both. 

Sec. 76. Whoever, when applying to be admitted a citizen, 
or when appearing as a witness for any such person, shall 
knowingly personate any person other than himself, or shall 
falsely appear in the name of a deceased person, or in an as¬ 
sumed or fictitious name; or whoever shall falsely make, 
forge, or counterfeit any oath, notice, affidavit, certificate, 
order, record, signature, or other instrument, paper, or pro¬ 
ceeding required or authorized by any law relating to or 
providing for the naturalization of aliens; or whoever shall 
utter, sell, dispose of, or shall use as true or genuine, for any 
unlawful purpose, any false, forged, antedated, or counter¬ 
feit oath, notice, certificate, order, record, signature, instru¬ 
ment, paper, or proceeding above specified; or whoever shall 
sell or dispose of to any person other than the person for 
whom it was originally issued any certificate of citizenship 
or certificate showing any person to be admitted a citizen, shall 
be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or imprisoned not 
more than five years, or both. 

Sec. 77. Whoever shall use or attempt to use, or shall aid, 
3^5isL pr participate ip the use of any certificate of citizep- 


66 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


ship, knowing the same to be forged, counterfeit, or antedated, 
or knowing the same to have been procured by fraud or 
otherwise unlawfully obtained; or whoever, without lawful 
excuse, shall knowingly possess any false, forged, antedated, 
or counterfeit certificate of citizenship purporting to have 
been issued under any law of the United States relating to 
naturalization, knowing such certificate to be false, forged, 
antedated, or counterfeit, with the intent unlawfully to use 
the same; or whoever shall obtain, accept, or receive any 
certificate of citizenship, knowing the same to have been pro¬ 
cured by fraud or by the use or means of any false name or 
statement given or made with the intent to procure, or to aid 
in procuring, the issuance of such certificate, or knowing 
the same to have been fraudulently altered or antedated; or 
whoever, without lawful excuse, shall have in his possession 
any blank certificate of citizenship provided by the »Bureau 
of Naturalization with the intent unlawfully to use the same; 
or whoever, after having been admitted to be a citizen, shall, 
on oath or by affidavit, knowingly deny that he has been so 
admitted, with the intent to evade or avoid any duty or lia¬ 
bility imposed or required by law, shall be fined not more 
than one thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than five 
years, or both. 

Sec. 78. Whoever shall in any manner use, for the purpose 
of registering as a voter, or as evidence of a right to vote, 
or otherwise unlawfully, any order, certificate of citizenship, 
or certificate, judgment, or exemplification, showing any per¬ 
son to be admitted to be a citizen, whether heretofore or 
hereafter issued or made, knowing that such order, certificate, 
judgment, or exemplification has been unlawfully issued or 
made; or whoever shall unlawfully use, or attempt to use, 
any such order or certificate, issued to or in the name of any 
other person, or in a fictitious name, or the name of a de¬ 
ceased person, shall be fined not more than one thousand 
dollars, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. 

Sec. 79. Whoever shall knowingly use any certificate of 
n;.*turalization heretofore or which hereafter may be granted 
by any court, which has been or may be'procured through 
fraud or by false evidence, or which has been or may here¬ 
after be issued by the clerk or any other officer of the court 


NATURALIZATION LAWS. 


67 


without any appearance and hearing of the applicant in court 
and without lawful authority; or whoever, for any fraudulent 
purpose whatever, shall falsely represent himself to be a citi¬ 
zen of the United States without having been duly admitted 
to citizenship, shall be fined not more than one thousand 
dollars, or imprisoned not more than two years, or both. 

Sec. 80. Whoever, in any proceeding under or by virtue of 
any law relating to the naturalization of aliens, shall knowingly 
swear falsely in any case where an oath is made or affidavit 
taken, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars and 
imprisoned not more than five years. 

Sec. 81. The provisions of the five sections last preceding 
shall apply to all proceedings had or taken, or attempted to 
be had or taken, before any court in which any proceeding 
for naturalization may be commenced or attempted to be 
commenced, and whether such court was vested by law with 
jurisdiction in naturalization proceedings or not. (35 Stat. L., 
pt. I, p. 1102.) 

[By the terms of section 341 of the act referred to above 
the foregoing sections specifically repealed sections 5395, 542.' 
5425, 5426, 5428, and 5429 of the Revised Statutes of the 
United States, as well as sections 16, 17, and 19 of the act of 
June 29, 1906, 34 Stat. L., pt. i, p. 596.] 

CITIZENSHIP. 

[In regard to the acquisition of citizenship by means other than naturali¬ 
zation, see also secs. 1992 and 1995 of the United States Revised 

Statutes.] 

Citizenship by Birth. 

Sec. I. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, 
and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the 
United States and of the State wherein they reside. * * ♦ 
(Constitution, Art. XIV.) 

Citizenship of Children Born Abroad of Citizens. 

[Act of February 10, 1855, amending act of April 14, 1802.] 

Sec. 1993. All children heretofore born or hereafter born 
out of the limits and jurisdiction of the United States, whose 
fathers were or may be at the time of their birth citizens 


68 


AMERICAN citizenship. 


thereof, are declared to be citizens of the United States; but 
the rights of citizenship shall not descend to children whose 
fathers never resided in the United States. (R. S. 1878, p. 
350; I Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 1268.) 

Citizenship of Women by Marriage. 

[Act of February 10, 1855.] 

Sec. 1994. Any woman who is now or may hereafter be 
married to a citizen of the United States, and who might 
herself be lawfully naturalized, shall be deemed a citizen. 
(R. S. 1878, p. 350; I Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 1268.) 

Children of Persons Naturalized Under Certain Laws 
TO BE Citizens. 

[Act of April 14, 1802.] 

Sec. 2172. The children of persons who have been duly 
naturalized under any law of the United States, or who, pre¬ 
vious to the passing of any law on that subject, by the Gov¬ 
ernment of the United States, may have become citizens of 
any one of the States, under the laws thereof, being under 
the age of twenty-one years at the time of the naturalization 
of their parents, shall, if dwelling in the United States, be 
considered as citizens thereof; and the children of persons 
who now are, or have been, citizens of the United States, 
shall, though born out of the limits and jurisdiction of the 
United States, be considered as citizens thereof; but no per¬ 
son heretofore proscribed by any State, or who has been 
legally convicted of having joined the army of Great Britain 
during the Revolutionary War, shall be admitted to become 
a citizen without the consent of the legislature of the State 
in which such person was proscribed. (R. S. 1878, p. 380; 
I Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 1334.) 

Expatriation of Citizens and Their Protection Abroad. 

[Act of March 2, 1907.] 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That 
the Secretary of State shall be authorized, in his discretion. 


NATURALIZATION LAWS. 


69 


to issue passports to persons not citizens of the United States 
as follows: Where any person has made a declaration of 
intention to become such a citizen as provided by law and 
has resided in the United States for three years a passport 
may be issued to him entitling him to the protection of the 
Government in any foreign country: Provided, That such 
passport shall not be valid for more than six months and shall 
not be renewed, and that such passport shall not entitle the 
holder to the protection of this Government in the country of 
which he was a citizen prior to making such declaration of 
intention. 

Sec. 2. That any American citizen shall be deemed to have 
expatriated himself when he has been naturalized in any for¬ 
eign State in conformity with its laws, or when he has taken 
an oath of allegiance to any foreign State. 

When any naturalized citizen shall have resided for two 
years in the foreign State from which he came, or for five 
years in any other foreign State, it shall be presumed that he 
has ceased to be an American citizen, and the place of his 
general abode shall be deemed his place of residence during 
said years: Provided, however. That such presumption may 
be overcome on the presentation of satisfactory evidence to a 
diplomatic or consular officer of the United States, under such 
rules and regulations as the Department of State may pre¬ 
scribe: And provided also. That no American citizen shall be 
allowed to expatriate himself when this country is at war. 

Sec. 3. That any American woman who marries a foreigner 
shall take the nationality of her husband. At the termination 
of the marital relation she may resume her American citizen¬ 
ship, if abroad, by registering as an American citizen within 
one year with a consul of the United States, or by returning 
to reside in the United States, or, if residing in the United 
States at the termination of the marital relation, by continuing 
to reside therein. 

Sec. 4. That any foreign woman who acquires American 
citizenship by marriage to an American shall be assumed to 
retain the same after the termination of the marital relation 
if she continues to reside in the United States, unless she 
makes formal renunciation thereof before a court having- 
jurisdiction to naturalize aliens, or if she resides abroad she 


70 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


may retain her citizenship by registering as such before a 
United States consul within one year after the termination of 
such marital relation. 

Sec. 5. That a child born without the United States of alien 
parents shall be deemed a citizen of the United States by 
virtue of the naturalization of or resumption of American 
citizenship by the parent: Provided, That such naturalization 
or resumption takes place during the minority of such child: 
And provided further. That the citizenship of such minor 
child shall begin at the time such minor child begins to reside 
permanently in the United States. 

Sec. 6. That all children born outside the limits of the 
United States who are citizens thereof in accordance with the 
provisions of section nineteen hundred and ninety-three of 
the Revised Statutes of the United States and who continue 
to reside outside the United States shall, in order to receive 
the protection of this Government, be required upon reaching 
the age of eighteen years to record at an American consulate 
their intention to become residents and remain citizens of the 
United States and shall be further required to take the oath 
of allegiance to the United States upon attaining their majority. 

Sec. 7. That duplicates of any evidence, registration, or 
other acts required by this act shall be filed with the Depart¬ 
ment of State for record. (34 Stat. L., pt. i, p. 1228.) 

- Porto Rican Citizenship. 

[Act of April 12, 1900.] 

Sec. 7. That all inhabitants continuing to reside therein 
who were Spanish subjects on the eleventh day of April, 
eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, and then resided in Porto 
Rico, and their children born subsequent thereto, shall be 
deemed and held to be citizens of Porto Rico, and as such 
entitled to the protection of the United States, except such 
as shall have elected to preserve their allegiance to the Crown 
of Spain on or before the eleventh day^of April, nineteen 
hundred, in accordance with the provisions of the treaty of 
peace between the United States and Spain entered into on 
the eleventh day of April, eighteen hundred and ninety- 
nine; * ♦ He (31 Stat. L., 79.) 


NATURALIZATION LAWS. 


71 


Porto Rico: Citizenship, Naturalization, and Residence. 

[Act of March 2, 1917.] 

* * * H: * * 

Sec. 5. That all citizens of Porto Rico, as defined by section 
seven of the act of April twelfth, nineteen hundred, “tem¬ 
porarily to provide revenues and a eivil government for 
Porto Rico, and for other purposes,” and all natives of Porto 
Rico who were temporarily absent from that island on April 
eleventh, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, and have since 
returned and are permanently residing in that island, and are 
not citizens of any foreign country, are hereby declared, and 
shall be deemed and held to be, citizens of the United States: 
Provided, That any person hereinbefore described may retain 
his present political status by making a declaration, under oath, 
of his decision to do so within six months of the taking effect 
of this act before the district court in the district in which 
he resides, the declaration to be in form as follows: 

“I ., being duly sworn, hereby declare my intention 

not to become a citizen of the United States as provided in 
the act of Congress conferring United States citizenship upon 
citizens of Porto Rico and certain natives permanently re¬ 
siding in said island.” 

In the case of any such person who may be absent from 
the island during said six months the term of this proviso 
may be availed of by transmitting a declaration, under oath, 
in the form herein provided within six months of the taking 
effect of this act to the executive secretary of Porto Rico: 
And provided further, That any person who is born in Porto 
Rico of an alien parent and is permanently residing in that 
island may, if of full age, within six months of the taking 
effect of this act, or if a minor, upon reaching his majority or 
within one year thereafter, make a sworn declaration of 
allegiance to the United States before the United States Dis¬ 
trict Court for Porto Rico, setting forth therein all the facts 
connected with his or her birth and residence in Porto Rico 
and accompanying due proof thereof, and from and after the 
making of such declaration shall be considered to be a citizen 
of the United States. 



72 


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. 


Slic. 41. That Porto Rico shall constitute a judicial district 
to he called “the district of Porto Rico.” ♦ * * 44,0 

trict court for said district shall be called “the District Court 
of the United States for Porto Rico,” ♦ * * said district 
court shall have jurisdiction for the naturalization of aliens 
and Porto Ricans, and for this purpose residence in Porto 
Rico shall be counted in the same manner as residence else¬ 
where in the United States. * * * (39 Stat. L., 965.) 



















